Police on the beat bear a heavy load - on their hips

Hundreds of beat police have complained of medical problems caused by having to wear too much heavy equipment on their belts.

Up to 700 officers have reported in the past week suffering from sciatica, chronic back pain, sore feet, bruising of the hips and other ailments as a result of the heavy belts.

It is hoped that the findings, the result of a snap union survey, will encourage plans to phase out the force's ill-fitting and outdated standard-issue leather belts.

However, a proposal to replace them with mesh Cadura harnesses favoured by defence force personnel may involve problems of its own.

With guns, handcuffs, portable radios, emergency kits, batons, spray canisters and utility tools hitched to their waists, officers are being asked to lug around an extra nine kilograms, according to NSW Police Association officials.");document.write("

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"It might be OK to haul that much gear if you're a burly bloke who comes in at a hundred kilos plus," one official said.

"But when you get down to 60 or 65 kilos like some of the smaller girls, carrying that amount of equipment is adding a fair bit to your body weight.

"Considering also that a number of officers are working 12-hour shifts which involve a fair amount of time on their feet, it's little wonder that we've collected such large waves of data in such a short space of time."

The Cadura belts have more flexibility and are less cumbersome, but research is also being conducted overseas into whether the introduction of lighter equipment is possible.

But to make even a marginal difference, it is thought that each item on the belt would have to be reduced by at least 30 to 40 grams to make a worthwhile difference.

Additional concerns have also been raised about the suitability of the new belts for carrying Glock sidearms.

Holsters for the 16-shot semi-automatic pistols are currently fixed to officer's belts by rivets or screws, but the same method of attachment may not be as successful with other types of belts.

One possibility is that consideration will be given to replacing the existing holsters.

Each of these issues has been scheduled for discussion between senior police and association executives this week.

Any real progress on them, however, could be expected to take several months.